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AT&T Uverse

Ben got a new UVerse modem and an Eero Mesh Router and it was working fine until last week. Now he's having issues with the router, where it drops off the network again and again. Leo says that the UVerse modem is likely a router-modem combo, and he'll need to put the router into bridge mode. And in order for the mesh router to use its advanced features, it needs to be the main router.

Jane had DSLExtreme and she recently lost access to it. She says that DSLExtreme wants to come into her home and install fiber. Is that a good idea? Leo says it will be a bit more expensive. One possibility is that AT&T may be up to something. THey could be cutting the copper in your neighborhood, which is a bad business practice. AT&T is cutting the copper in your neighborhood and trying to get you to sign up for uVerse, which uses fiber optics. It's just like cable, only faster.

Tamar has an Amazon Echo Dot. She'll be listening to streaming radio and then it will just stop working. Leo says that he's had the same problem and it could be that it hears the word stop and stops. But it could also be that the stream stalls and the Echo gives up. Leo discovered that when he used the Echo Show and could see the error message. When a stream stops, it could be a random stop of the stream to force it to restart. This is largely due to having to pay royalties for music that they play. But if it's stopping suddenly and after just a few minutes, then that's not normal.

Nuris wants to know why AT&T UVerse is so slow. They've replaced her modem eight times. Leo says that if she's watching TV and the Internet, it uses the same internet connection. So it can slow down due to bandwidth. UVerse can also be using the old copper phone lines which could slow it down as well. It could also be the connections just outside her house. It may be fiber optic, but from the curb to her house is an issue. It's probably the box that connects to the fiber that is failing.

Art wants to know if he should bundle with AT&T UVerse or go with Time Warner's bundle. Leo says that generally it's better to go with cable because it's faster overall. It really comes down to how good it is in your neighborhood. Art should ask around and see what his neighbors use and like. Also, Time Warner has been sold to Charter, so it may change. If Time Warner is putting in fiber, that's even better. Another thing to consider is whether or not he'll money on the bundle.

Larry's Debian Linux computer kills his UVerse internet connection. He can't even stream with the network. The problem is, he's blind and he can't troubleshoot it with his screen reader. Leo suggests trying a non graphical output version of MRTG. W3M also supports Javascript browsing. Leo suspects a host name error. The challenge is that running Linux means he's supporting himself, and the Linux community is smaller than Mac or Windows. A good Sys Admin may be able to figure it out. Leo suggests getting a logfile and putting it on the forum to ask them if they see what's going on.

Gary is an AT&T UVerse user. Can he buy his own modem? Leo says no. UVerse uses their own modem because of the TV interface. But he could use a standalone Wi-Fi router. He can connect it via Ethernet and it'll give it access. Leo uses a TriBand AC3200 from Asus. It's the fastest he's ever used. He should also check out the Archer C7 from TP-Link.

Christie just bought a Samsung Galaxy Note V. Leo says to be careful with stylus because you can easily get it stuck if you put it in the wrong way. She bought it because it came with a free tablet, but she has to pay an extra $10 a month for data and Netflix won't work. She's frustrated because everybody blames the other guy. When she took it back, it worked fine at the store. Leo says that indicates that Christie's Wi-Fi connection is suspect. Leo says it could be a problem with AT&T's UVerse and their router.

Linda bought a modem on amazon to save money on rentals at AT&T Uverse. Leo says that's a great idea. Having your own equipment makes it easier to take your business elsewhere should you want to cancel as well.

If everything else is working on that network, then it's clear the laptop is the issue. It's possible that they're using a WPA2 password and the laptop doesn't support that. Since the laptop isn't that old, Leo doesn't think that's it. She is getting signal on the laptop, it's just not connecting to the internet. It could be Internet Explorer. Try another browser like Google Chrome or Firefox. It's also possible that the laptop is mis-configured for the new network. It may also be that malware is causing it, such as DNS Changer.